


Buttons

by Kalloway



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 11:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20191204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalloway/pseuds/Kalloway
Summary: Laguna has never done a terribly good job at dressing himself. Kyros tries to help but gets distracted.





	Buttons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lipstickcat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lipstickcat/gifts).

> July 15, 2005.

"You've missed a button again," Kiros said, reaching across Laguna's desk to fix Laguna's shirt, just like he did most every day first thing in the late morning, before Laguna had a chance to meet with anyone important who would possibly notice the sort of personal details that Laguna often didn't.

Snaps would cause the exact same problem, Kiros thought, and ties would end up with a perpetually trapped Laguna. Velcro was an option, but Kiros didn't think it would be exceptionally comfortable, not comfortable enough to suit Laguna's leisurely stance on clothing, at least.

He could feel the heat of Laguna's body as he unbuttoned half of Laguna's shirt, paying little attention to the fact that Laguna had stopped breathing for the duration of this small exercise, just like every morning.

Blue, again, which seemed to be Laguna's favorite color for shirts despite their bad habit of showing stains nearly as badly as white shirts. Why Laguna wouldn't just give up and go with the traditional Estharian garb was beyond Kiros anyway - it was certainly more practical than this ritual every day. Though Kiros was fairly sure that any form of clothing would be a reasonable challenge for Laguna.

But even if the nuances of buttons escaped him, Kiros couldn't help but recognize that when Laguna was brilliant, he was very very brilliant. The brilliance just hid under an awkward veil of clumsiness and... Great, now he had missed a button as well. Take two...

"I could just let you dress me to begin with," Laguna said, taking an audible breath as Kiros corrected the buttons and debated whether to leave the top one undone or not - either way it would be undone by the end of the day.

"I could," Kiros agreed, not realizing he'd agreed until it was too late to take the words back. Somehow the thought of a completely naked Laguna most likely still damp from a morning shower was quite more than he was willing to try to handle without things becoming possibly more complicated than they ever should.

"Fine then," Laguna exclaimed, "as an official presidential decree, you shall officially show up before I get dressed in order to officially select something and, um... Anyway, I want to read over the latest studies about the army's cybernetics... I've been putting it off and..."

As Kiros went to grab the papers from Laguna's in-pile, he was a little disturbed by how quickly that randomly official decree had been made and just what was going to happen. But that was something to worry about, well, in the morning.

Until then, he didn't have to focus on the heat of Laguna's body and could instead make a few phone calls and focus on what Laguna was focused on.

Of course, before Kiros had made any firm decisions in his mind, he found himself facing the rising sun and the knowledge that as soon as he'd gotten dressed, he'd have to wander down the hall to take care of Laguna.

There was one good thing about the entire arrangement though - never again would he have to sit through an entire day positive that Laguna was completely colorblind.

But picking out clothing every day? Kiros found himself chuckling at the ideas running through his head of some of the more interesting things he could choose for Laguna to wear. Surely Laguna had to have various pieces of intriguing clothing hidden somewhere in his vast closet - it couldn't all be blue shirts, dark pants and clashing socks.

So he found himself knocking at Laguna's door, trying not to think about any of the compromising positions he could find Laguna in and certainly rather happy that he'd chosen to skip traditional clothing for some nice, tight pants that would keep most anything from moving anywhere in any obvious ways.

After a minute of no response and not hearing anything from within the room, Kiros knocked again, a little harder and with a little more annoyance. If Laguna had slept through his alarm again...

The door opened, finally, just far enough to let Kiros in. And that was when all of Kiros' fears were confirmed - there stood an amusingly naked Laguna apparently fresh from the shower and not at all embarrassed at the situation.

"I figure you might as well start from scratch," Laguna said, nervously smiling. Kiros was a little relieved at that little gesture - if Laguna hadn't been a little off guard, things would have been...

Mentally, Kiros kicked himself. This was neither the time nor the place, despite it really seeming to be the time and place. He just wanted his hands on Laguna's skin, not bothering to worry about what Laguna should be wearing. The attraction had always been there, but it had grown over time and had settled to a state where it would be nice to act on it, though if it never happened...

"I think I trust you to pick out underwear," Kiros replied, heading through the suite to Laguna's walk-in closet.

"So from now on I can at least put on something?" Laguna asked in response, following a bit too closely behind Kiros. "Okay."

"You don't have to," Kiros found himself saying before his mouth and his brain recalibrated themselves to work in tandem. "If you really want me to pick out your underwear, too..."

But really, Kiros just grabbed the first pair in the pile and handed them behind him to Laguna, not even looking back. Looking back would not be something good and certainly he'd already had enough images burned into his brain for one day.

Green, he thought suddenly, today Laguna could wear green. And hopefully not run afoul of any sauces with a reddish color.

"You're wearing normal clothes today," Laguna commented as Kiros hunted for something matching his mental image.

"I do that sometimes," Kiros replied. "So does Ward and so do the teenagers who import the Galbadian fashion magazines..."

And that was a mistake if ever he had spoken one.

"Oh, I think I'd like..."

Kiros tuned Laguna out completely. He knew for a fact that if he didn't, he'd quickly be agreeing to dress Laguna in leather and fur, the look inspired by his estranged hero son.

Finally Laguna was dressed and Kiros excused himself quickly from the room. The green did look good and Kiros knew that if he hurried, he could consult with the palace chefs over just what Laguna would be spilling on himself at lunch.

Weeks later, the ritual had become routine - even Ward had stopped making silent pantomimed jokes about the exercise, thankfully. And Kiros was amused to be seen as a sudden fashion connoisseur by any and all who had noticed the growing tastefulness of Laguna's still-casual outfits.

So one morning when he paused with his hands inside Laguna's collar as he straightened it, Kiros was a little surprised at himself. But standing just inches from Laguna, watching as Laguna watched him, it was a chance he just had to take.

Laguna's lips were as warm as the rest of his body, soft and willing to give into his, slowly returning the lingering kiss.

Which is exactly when Laguna's body decided that it was going to be Laguna's body and do something completely uncalled for. Mumbling in pain, Laguna grabbed at Kiros as they both dropped to the floor.

Kiros had rather forgotten about Laguna's leg and its strange behavior which of course did mean that it would act up at the worst possible moment. Kiss nearly forgotten, he let his hands join Laguna's in an effort to rub the cramping pain away.

But it wasn't entirely possible to forget the reason for the incident so quickly. In seconds Laguna was looking at Kiros with a face-full of confusion. Words just didn't seem right though, so Kiros just kissed him again.

And just as Kiros began processing just how stupid this was going to become, Laguna began to kiss him back, sharing the warmth of his mouth and the surprising skill of his tongue.

"Kiros..." Laguna was suddenly flat on his back, gasping for breath having forgotten, yet again at Kiros' touch, to breathe.

"I..."

"Took you long enough," Laguna finished, starting to chuckle. "I had thought, but..."

And this was the surprising part of Laguna, the part that could handle strategy and military maneuvers, the part that had planned this entire thing, quite possibly months if not years in advance. Kiros found himself chuckling as well before moving in for another kiss.

This was just one of those things... that kept everything... from being boring.

All these weeks of familiarizing himself with the working of Laguna's clothing was certainly paying off as he undid buttons and zippers, glad he could finally touch Laguna without holding himself back.

As he fanned his fingers over the planes of Laguna's torso, Kiros was rue to pull his mouth from Laguna's. They had no reason to rush, save that...

Damn! Kiros pulled back, remembering his role as a personal assistant fully needing to get Laguna to a very important meeting on time. It wasn't often that he could assemble both military and medical personnel to fact check and this could not be missed.

"Kiros?"

"You have a meeting. An important meeting. About something you're actually rather interested in," Kiros said, reaching to fix the buttons he'd just undone, trying not to laugh at the entire situation. They hadn't moved off the floor, which made things even more awkward.

"You kissed me," Laguna replied. "I'd been wondering, so..."

"Breakfast will be sent to the conference room," Kiros continued, standing and then offering a hand to Laguna. "We can finish this on our own time later."

"Esthar first," Laguna answered with a nod, stumbling to his feet. "I can live with that. Today."


End file.
